House of Reps is a project that explores apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Another, prettier, house. Source: author.

It includes documentation for a Python package houseofreps, as well as articles exploring the impact of the seat assignment algorithm and the electoral college assignments.

House of Reps is a project that explores apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives. It includes documentation for a Python package houseofreps, as well as articles exploring the impact of the seat assignment algorithm and the electoral college assignments. See the House of Reps package.

See the House of Reps homepage - https://www.oliver-ernst.com/house-of-reps.

Articles

• Sorry, Delaware, America’s most underrepresented state — Congratulations for losing the state population lottery, 70 years and counting. Delaware has been the most consistently underrepresented state over the past 60 years. It’s ranking in the state populations has created a population ranking trap that has consistently delivered fewer representatives than the fair value.

• The impact of 25 people on Congressional voting — This is the story of how Minnesota was just 25 people away from losing a representative. If 25 people had moved from Minnesota to the rest of the U.S. in 2020, the state would have lost a representative in the 2020–2030 apportionments. Similarly, if 84 people had moved to New York from the rest of the U.S., the state would have gained a seat.

• Flipping House votes with apportionment data — How changing the method for seat apportionment in the House would reshape voting. We use data from https://voteview.com/ to show that the algorithm can swing as many as 2 votes in the US, representing the voices of 1.5MM citizens. This is particularly relevant in closely divided congresses, where the 2 votes can flip the decision of a rollcall vote such as the election of Kevin McCarthy as speaker. This is not an endorsement, but it is a fascinating result that shows how important the small details of our democratic system are.

• What’s my vote worth? — Your state’s voting power in the electoral college. Hint: A vote in Wyoming is worth 3.6x as much as a vote in California.

• Documentation for houseofreps Python package — houseofreps is a Python package that implements apportionment methods for assigning seats in the US House of Representatives.